BRIDGNORTH (Shropshire).

BRIDGNORTH (Shropshire). Has no armorial bearings. Two seals are recorded in the visitation books of the College of Arms, one showing simply issuing from battlements an embattled gateway with portcullis surmounted by three towers, the centre one taller than the others and triple-towered, all within the legend

" Sigill. communitatis de Bruges." The other seal shows upon a mount (or this may be intended to represent waves) an embattled gateway with portcullis, and rising in the centre from the battlements a tower pyramidically domed, on the dexter side of the tower an escutcheon of St George and on the sinister side an escutcheon of France and England quarterly : all within the legend " Sigillum officij ballivor libertatis ville de bruges." The device upon this last seal, though in this case the castle is plainly on a mount, is usually used as the arms of the town, with the Motto " Fidelitas urbis salus Regis," which of course refers to the part played by the town in the Civil Wars. Burke and Berry, whilst both giving a note saying that the seal [evidently referring to the former of the two] shows a castle only, quote a coat, " Azure, a castle argent, a canton of the last." How this originated one is at a loss to understand, and the editor can answer from considerable personal knowledge of the town that such a coat is never made use of.

In the visitation books rather an interesting note is added to the drawings of the seals, as follows : — " These arc the scales now used by towne of Bruges in the countie of Salop aunciently so called, but of late times corruptly nominated Bruge-north or Brugge-north, when indeed that attribute of North ought to be Morfe, as standing upon the side of the forest of Morfe in the said countie."

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Original Source bookofpublicarms00foxd_djvu.txt near line 4428.